Mohammed Kudus has opened up properly for the first time since leaving West Ham for Spurs — and he’s had his say on the criticism he faced during his final season in east London.
The Ghanaian star has broken his silence on claims about his form and attitude, and his response makes his feelings perfectly clear.
You can’t push to leave West Ham for Tottenham Hotspur and expect no kickback.
Especially when you are the first player to move between the Hammers and bitter rivals Spurs for 14-and-a-half years.
Mohammed Kudus was given the treatment when he returned to the London Stadium with Tottenham last month.
Although the jeers started to echo around the ground as West Ham fans left en masse at 3-0 down.
From Lopetegui bust-ups to ‘not trying’ – Kudus’ second season at West Ham
Deep down most Hammers fans blame their under-fire owners for the fact Kudus joined Tottenham.
After selling Declan Rice for £105m, playing three consecutive seasons in Europe and winning a first major trophy in 43 years, West Ham should never have been in a position where they had to sell one of their best players.
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And while many have tried to deny it since his departure to Tottenham, Kudus was one of West Ham’s best players.
The big fear was always that the Ghanaian would rediscover the scintillating form of his debut season with the Hammers when linking up with Thomas Frank at Tottenham.
That nightmare is already becoming a reality.
Kudus has more assists than any other player in the Premier League and tops the charts for dribbles, duels and ball recoveries.
A similar story to his first season with West Ham, where Kudus had more successful dribbles than any player in Europe’s top five leagues and won the ball back for his team more than any other player in the top flight bar Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes.
Not to mention the 20 goals and assists he contributed.
After that season, Kudus’ £85m release clause looked too cheap.
Fast forward a year, though, and West Ham were pleading PSR poverty and that Spurs were the only show in town who were willing to pay £54.5m for Kudus.
His value dropped significantly after a poor second season and a clear intention to leave.
Now Spurs star Kudus has broken his silence on criticism of his form and attitude at West Ham.
Spurs star Kudus breaks silence on West Ham criticism
Kudus started off last season at West Ham by having a major bust-up with new manager Julen Lopetegui.
The Spaniard singled the attacker out in the changing room at half-time of West Ham’s match at Brentford accusing him of playing for himself and not the team.
Kudus reportedly flipped and had to be pulled back from Lopetegui, who substituted him.
The former Ajax winger could be seen kicking a seat as he re-emerged to watch the second half.
From that moment on, Kudus simply looked like he did not want to be at West Ham. Reports since suggest he had actually wanted to leave in the summer before.
Then came his head loss at Spurs where he floored three of his new teammates in a rage and was banned for five games.
Lopetegui was eventually replaced by Graham Potter but he could not get a tune out of Kudus either.
Fans started questioning his attitude, application and desire as his work-rate noticeably dropped off.
So by the time he joined West Ham’s London rivals and declared he ‘only wanted Spurs’, Kudus’ bridges were well and truly burnt.
Now, though, the player has opened up about the criticism he faced.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated Kudus said it was a gut feeling to join West Ham.
And he says when he scored his first goal for the Hammers against Newcastle he felt ‘this is it’.
Kudus says he could have left after the first season but wanted to stay and ‘smash the league’.
Kudus: I could have left West Ham after first season
So the Black Stars ace says the criticism of his attitude and effort in his second season don’t add up. And he thinks it comes from people who watch him for 90 minutes and don’t know anything about him.
“Being talked about almost every day on the TV, it’s hard to deal with,” Kudus said.
“From people who don’t even know you, literally, they just watch you for maybe 90 minutes and then there’s a judgement on sometimes who you are or what you are and stuff like that, which I personally I don’t think is fair.
“I think the best people can really talk about you are the people that spend the most time with you almost every single day, you know.
“But, that’s part of the work. And we as athletes, of course, we have to deal with that. That’s why I say don’t be famous or something like that, but you can still use it to your best ability and, and have an impact on other people’s lives.”
Kudus is certainly having an impact on the lives of Spurs fans right now.
His form has helped Frank’s side up to third in the fledgling table while West Ham sit in the bottom two a fifth of the way through the season.
Wayne Rooney already has David Sullivan sick with regret over West Ham selling Kudus to Spurs.
The decision to sell was not as controversial as the destination.
Now the Hammers must hope their destination is not the Championship without him.